


Chasing Figments

by pleasantdreamskiddo (takingthepotterstobakerstreet)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-28
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2017-12-09 19:18:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/777068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takingthepotterstobakerstreet/pseuds/pleasantdreamskiddo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'You are not gonna wake up, okay? Look, there's no real versus dreams anymore. There's just you, us and this.' - A take on Sora's side of The World That Never Was in Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance until the end of the game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pleasant Dreams, Kiddo

Sora landed in a darkened city, a tall tower with large screens and monitors littered across its walls looming before him. The sky, much like the buildings surrounding him, was dark and the only light provided in the city came from the windows of the buildings; no stars or moon hung in the sky. Merely an odd mist made of reds and blues.   


‘Wait, isn’t this…?’ he wondered aloud, eyes scanning the familiar scenery. He wandered forward a few steps, eyes narrowing at the static dancing over the screens of Memory’s Skyscraper.  


‘Is the Organization’s world sleeping too?’ - His brow furrowed as he held his fingers aloft, counting off the worlds he’d seen during his slumber – ‘No, it can’t be. I know I definitely found the seven keyholes already… So I’ve got to be awake already, and in the real world.’  


Feeling a headache coming on from confusion, Sora rubbed the back of his head. ‘But why here?’  


‘Aww, what’s the matter sleepy-head?’  


Sora darted to attention, arms raised to his sides defensively, and his head whipping from side to side so quickly that he was surprised he hadn’t given himself whiplash.  


‘Who’s there?! Show yourself!’ he cried out into the street. He felt the unmistakeable feeling of someone watching him closely, but dared not turn around for the fear of who he would find. The voice had sounded so familiar, but it simply couldn’t be possible that its owner was alive. He’d faded a year ago; Sora, Donald and Goofy had made sure of that.  


‘We jumped through a lot of hoops to get you here...’ – Sora heard the distinct buzzing of energy but couldn’t pinpoint the location- ‘But it looks as if it’s gonna pay off.’  


The click of a trigger sounded from behind him, and Sora whipped around as quickly as he possibly could, registering the energy bullet and hopping out of its path seconds later. His eyes scanned up the building it had come from, landing on a tall cloaked figure stood on its roof. The figure jumped swiftly down, hovering above the floor for a second before touching down to the ground gently. With a smug grin, he slipped his guns away as his single amber eye narrowed in a strange mix of malice and amusement. Sora’s suspicions were confirmed; he would never forget this man, particularly when he had changed so very little. The only noticeable difference was the increase of grey hairs running through his long black ponytail. His stance remained casual as he eyed the keybearer with mild interest.  


No, Xigbar had changed little in the year since he’d apparently faded to darkness. Though what shocked Sora the most wasn’t the fact that Xigbar was alive. Although he’d only met the man briefly, Number II had come across as one to avoid hassle and to avoid conflict when possible. He had told him to ‘be a good boy, now’, hadn’t he? So why was he not following his own advice?  


‘You’re part of this?’  


Xigbar threw his arms up in a casual shrug. ‘Hey, let’s hit these plot points in order, Sora. Roxas.’  


The boy scowled at him. He and Roxas were two different people, and he was starting to think it was high time that the various Organization members took a leaf out of Axel’s book and ‘got it memorised’.  


‘First, you must be wondering about your revised itinerary. ‘Why am I here, not back home?’ The answer’s simple. We brought you to this place! Hi-jacked your little slumber party before it started, and ever since, we’ve been both your companions and your constant guides.’  


Sora doubted the man could possibly look any more smug, but decided not to dwell on it.  


‘Before it started?’ he asked confusion apparent on his face, before realisation rose to his eyes like the sun of Destiny Islands that rose at dawn. ‘Oh! The man in the road… and I saw that guy in the black coat! And Xemnas!’  


Xigbar’s grin grew even larger.  


‘Bingo!’ he said, pointing at the younger boy, before stalking up to him, each step making the man seem ever more menacing. ‘You were able to go back in time to just before your world became a sleeping world only because a past version of you already existed there.’ He bent over to stare the younger boy in the eyes, hands on hips and looking all too pleased with the Organization’s plan. He waved his arms around to enunciate his next words. ‘And I can see in the past, you already met Mr. Robe Guy. Yup, he was there then to make sure you ended up here now.’  


Sora saw red, snapping at the dark haired man.  


‘That’s ridiculous!’  


‘It sure is.’ Xigbar said, walking away from him towards Memory’s Skyscraper. ‘It’s too perfect. Who’d ever believe it? Which is why you idiots never saw it coming. You thought you were off doing some kind of test, right? Well test this.’ With a wave of his hand, he revealed the truth that made Sora’s heart drop. ‘How come you’re wearing the same clothes if you’re already back home? You are _not_ gonna wake up, okay? Look, there’s no real versus dreams anymore. There’s just you, us and this.’  


Sora closed his eyes in irritation, making a quick decision that he might later decide he was too rash in making. But for now, it’d have to do.  


‘I see.’ With a flick of his wrist, his Keyblade was in his hand. ‘Fair enough.’ His eyes opened, burning with anger. ‘So what? At least I know who to blame for it!’  


Within a split second, he entered a battle stance, crouched slightly with his Keyblade at the ready.  


Xigbar looked over his shoulder, smug as ever. ‘Ooh!’ he cooed, with a raise of his eyebrows. ‘I see you’ve still got that angry look down.’  


He waved his arms dismissively at the boy.  


‘But here’s where I tag out. I’ve got just a few more hoops I’ve gotta jump through.’  


And just like that, he vanished from before Sora’s eyes, startling him and knocking him off guard.  


Then without warning, 12 shots of energy rained into a circle around him, transforming into 12 cloaked beings, all hooded except for one. Before him stood the young man with silver hair and tanned skin that he’d met previously. He held out his hand to the boy, amber eyes cold.   


‘Come with me.’  


And suddenly, that silver hair looked much shorter, and those amber eyes were looking more like teal. The coat melted to an all too familiar yellow shirt, and dark blue pants over pale white skin, and his heart was clenching and with a start, he realised that he wasn’t in the World that Never Was anymore. Though the sky was still dark, and he felt the pull of darkness from all around him, it was a different darkness; one more pure, more menacing with an all too familiar pull that accompanied the Heartless.  


Then Riku vanished, replaced by the cloaked boy once more, and he felt sick to the stomach. His head rushed as his knees started to give in, looking around in desperation. Just some sort of help, some sort of sign, some sort of Riku to save him. But his eyes only found Xigbar, who didn’t look quite as smug anymore, his mouth drawn into a thin line.  


‘What…?’  


And then his vision blurred, Xigbar’s distinct features becoming more unrecognisable. And with the call of ‘Pleasant dreams, kiddo.’ in Number II’s slurred voice, his vision faded and he saw no more.  



	2. Déjà vu

When he awoke, the darkness had gone, replaced by a sun so dazzling that he had to raise a hand to shield his eyes from it. Birds twittered in his ears, trees rustled from the gentle breeze passing overhead and the sand underneath him crunched with the pressure upon it. He pulled himself up slowly, taking in Destiny Islands all around him, and for a split second he all but forgot that he’d ever left the islands in the first place. Then his eyes landed on the tall, dark-skinned figure stood before him, and everything came rushing back to him, making his chest ache for the real Destiny Islands, not the figment around him. 

Through the ring of light left in his vision by looking directly at the sun, Sora could see that the figure was in fact a man with long silver hair, all too much like that of the boy in the cloak who’d been following him around throughout his adventure through dreams. His clothing was dark and his shirt had no sleeves. His trousers bunched up where they met his tight boots, the material too thick to fit underneath them. As Sora took in the fine details of the man’s outfit (the upturned collar and the black and silver belt fastened snugly around a too-thin waist), another figure approached, dressed in a robe the colour of rotting bark, the material of which fell in such a way that a person should not have been able to fit within it. The second figure sparked fear into Sora’s chest as he slowly re-called where he’d seen him before; just before the islands had disappeared, just before Kairi and Riku had been taken away from him, just before the nightmare began.

The silver haired boy turned to the cloaked figure, seemingly conversing with him on some matter, though their voices did not carry the short distance to where Sora sat. However, another voice rang out to his left, one that Sora had found himself expecting. 

‘Yes.’ His cloaked stalker said, looking over to the copy of himself by the waters of the beach as Sora turned to him. ‘This was where it started. At this point, I still had no idea that I was talking to myself.’

A chill ran up Sora’s spine as his brain began to associate the cloaked figment of his nightmares to the cloaked figure following him through his dreams.  
‘He cast away his bodily form just to set me on the appointed path.’

And despite the icy fear slipping through his every limb at the thought of what lay underneath the murky cloak, Sora found his voice ringing out cheerfully, somewhat squeaky from the hysteria. ‘What do you mean?’

The cloaked man beside him didn’t turn to him, just as Sora dared not turn to the two figures conversing by the waters. His amber eyes held no emotion, and Sora felt his stomach grow sick, just as it had every other time he had encountered beings so emotionless.

‘That is Xehanort, reduced to just a heart.’ Sora felt his own heart skip a beat, a cold sweat breaking out upon his forehead. He slowly turned back toward the beach, dreading what his eyes would find.

‘The being you and your friends call Ansem.’ noted the boy as an afterthought, as a shout of surprised terror tore from Sora’s throat as Ansem stood over him suddenly, with no evidence of how he’d gotten there in the first place. The pulse of darkness rang out in his ears, and despite his fear, Sora glanced under the hood, seeing nothing but black as his vision swam and was lost to him once more.

_

What he knew to surely be seconds later, he awoke with a start to Destiny Islands at night, all familiar, comforting sounds gone and replaced with the eerie quiet that always accompanied this image in his nightmares. All around him was muted, even the waterfall that he and Riku had once pushed one another in with reckless abandon. Although the leaves shook about in the trees and the waves rolled behind him, not a single sound could be heard. 

Then he heard footsteps, stampeding towards him and though he tried to turn his head, he couldn’t. An all too familiar figure came running into his vision, with over-sized, brightly coloured clothes and unnaturally spiky hair. 

‘Is that…?!’ he cried in shock, as his mirror-image pushed away the vines growing over the entrance to the secret place, hurriedly scrambling into the small opening.

‘Yes,’ Came the cloaked boy’s – Xehanort’s – voice at his ear, and suddenly he could move again. A sharp turn of his head granted him the vision of Xehanort, amber eyes shining in the moonlight and fixated on the silent waterfall. ‘The point in time that Xigbar mentioned.’

His eyes trailed down slightly, resting upon the chains of the man’s cloak. ‘Me… Before my world was swallowed by the darkness.’ He managed to say around the lump in his throat.

Xehanort’s gaze upon the falling water didn’t falter. ‘To move through time, you must leave your body behind. Ansem first sent me on my way and then placed himself here when the time was right. That is what set all these events in motion.’

Sora felt his brow furrow, and the words in his mind spilled out of his mouth quickly: ‘What are you saying? That he knew everything that would happen?’

Xehanort spared him a single glance of contempt before shaking his head. ‘No. Not everything. But remember; Ansem possessed Riku and saw his experiences in real time.’

‘So? That could only tell him so much.’ Sora glanced back towards the secret place for a few seconds, wondering just how long he’d spent in the small cave before his island was swallowed. ‘How did he know I would be here today?’

‘Simple.’ was the only answer that Sora got, before he heard a loud boom as the ground shook ferociously, nearly knocking him off his feet. Then with a start, he remembered what would happen next.

He turned toward the secret place once more, as a small mass of dainty limbs and red hair came hurtling out towards him, her expression a heart-wrenching combination of pure agony and despair.

‘KAIRI!’ he heard himself call, voice twisted in panic as he reached out for the body and braced himself, desperation to stop her from floating away - as she had on that fateful day and in so many of his nightmares since – so strong that he could feel his throat screaming in protest as her name tore from him. He reached out for her desperately, grabbing for her, for thin air, as she slipped straight through him and disappeared into the night. 

He held up his hands to his eyes, as he felt the gut-wrenching feeling of hopelessness permeate his body. When he blinked and his lashes met his cheekbones, they left a dampness that he knew hadn’t been there before, and his heart stung just a little more, to the point where he couldn’t stop the cry of anger from escaping his mouth. And that cry of anger turned to one of pain as he felt himself forced back into another slumber, one that he knew would only birth more painful nightmares.

_

The next time he awoke, it was due to the gut-churning feeling of falling and the vision of stars above him disappearing. 

‘What is…?’ were the unintelligent words he found escaping his mouth, as he looked around to see nothing but a sea of copies of himself bathed in a strange blue light.

He felt himself be pulled into an upright position as his feet touched down in a familiar cobblestone-paved plaza. He lifted his gaze from his oversized shoes to his doppelgangers moving about around him, some at a leisurely pace with eyes full of wonder, others practically tripping over themselves to get to their destination. One ran past him to his right, pushing open Traverse Town’s large entrance gate and disappearing out of sight, and another stood still, staring at the accessory shop for a number of minutes, before falling over backwards and fizzling out of existence like a glitch. 

'You’ve been here many times.' said the voice of Xehanort beside him, his presence somewhat comforting in contrast to the surrounding army of Sora’s. 'Your first journey, your voyage through memories, in the datascape, in your dreams… Relived again and again, like déjà vu.'

Past the tanned boys shoulder, movement caught Sora’s eye, as a familiar big-eared figure carrying a giant golden key ran down the steps from the accessory shop towards the gate to District 3.

'King Mickey?' said his own voice, his arm lifting in front of him as the mouse ran straight through the gate like a ghost through a wall and out of Sora’s vision. Nothing entered his mind other than the hope of Mickey coming back through the gate and spotting him, until a tall figure walked straight through him, startling him so much that he stepped back in shock. Goofy now stood with his back facing Sora as he looked down to speak to the figure of Donald beside him, and then lifted one lanky arm upwards to point towards the sky. Following his friend’s hand and Donald’s startled expression, blue eyes fell upon a large silver star as it blinked out of existence. 

Shocked and hoping for an explanation, Sora looked back down to his travelling companions to find they had gone, and he whipped his head around wildly to find that they had seemingly sprinted over to the steps, with Pluto walking behind them.

'Donald! Goofy!' he called, praying they would hear him as he tried to run after them. His legs seemingly transformed to lead, his would-be speedy strides instead turning into baby steps. By the time he reached the top of the flight of stairs, Donald and Goofy had completely vanished without a trace. He turned around in confusion, only to find Pluto galloping towards him from a back alley, and then back down the other side of the staircase. He gave chase, calling after him frantically, but the dog didn’t stop, instead running straight through the gate to District 3, just like his master before him. As he made to do this same, he found his feet held in place by an unknown force, his vision swimming once more. In a last desperate bid to pursue his friends, he lifted his hands for the panelling of the door, but it slipped away along with the town around him and left him in alone darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry this took so long! I started writing this almost immediately after uploading the first chapter, but I've not had much chance to carry it on between school work and various other responsibilities.  
> The next chapter shouldn't take half as long for me to upload; I finish sixth form in early June, so I'll have plenty of time to do what I want after that.


End file.
